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Try A Combo Notepad And Voice Recorder

Here’s a quick look at a Mac app much loved by teachers and students, but can also double up as a meeting audit tool. It’s called AudioNote and the name tells you pretty much everything you need to know.

Notes apps are everywhere, many are free, some of laden with features, but one function that you won’t find often is an option to record audio while you’re taking notes– and keep the two synchronized together. That’s what makes AudioNote different.

Notes. Recordings. Everywhere.

My day job has be tracking down problems with hundreds of Macs and PCs (and a growing number of Chromebooks) as a system administrator and roving troubleshooter at a private school here in Chicago. I love my work, and the interaction with students and teachers can be rewarding.

AudioNote is one of those rare apps that almost everyone who uses it loves. It runs on the Mac, iPhones, iPads, as well as Android devices and Windows PCs. All it does is let you take notes while recording audio, but it keeps them synchronized.

The way AudioNote works is simplicity at its best.

The media transport controls tell the tale. The big red Record button starts the audio recording. As you type in notes– from meeting or classroom lecture– they are synchronized with the audio recording (there is a bit of a lag, obviously, but easily overcome).

AudioNote also features a simple toolbar to create notes, view PDFs, change text and fonts, highlight text. And, you can annotate– highlight, draw circles, boxes, and lines– with ease.

What you get is an elegant mashup of a mini-word processor with an audio recorder that. The pen mode means you can draw or use handwritten notes. Copy and paste whatever elements you need to place into the notes.

Here’s the best part.

The notes makes it easy to find the audio segment that matches. Simple scan through the notes, find the location you want, and the corresponding audio recording is ready at that exact spot. It’s also just as easy to record a meeting or lecture, then go back and create notes based upon the audio recording. They still sync up accordingly. You can also drop in PDFs from presentations, add notes, and capture the audio.

There is just nothing to not like here. Notes and audio recording in a simple, straightforward, and cross platform app that can be used by anyone– teachers, students, employees. The only complaint I have, and it’s minor, is that AudioNote stores files– the combination of audio clips and notes– in a proprietary file format so there is no way to extract the two– audio and notes– should the app disappear from the market.

5G? Meh!

About Natalia Nowak

My husband, Nathan, and I have used Macs for nearly 25 years. We're teachers at a private school in Chicago, IL. I'm also the school's resident Mac system administrator, PC troubleshooter, and a diehard Mac diva and iPhone hacker. Read more of my articles here.